Halloweenland

I found this book to be a fun read as long as you don't mind a little bit of a lack of depth of the characters. The story moves really fast but it is like a candy bar. It is delicious but over quick and does not make a meal.

This guy is probably the closest thing to a new age Ray Bradbury, especially when it comes to describing the Halloween season. You can basically smell and taste the scenery he describes. A great and quick fun read.

If you're looking for a fun paperback to read while handing out candy to the neighborhood kids on Halloween night, get this book. Al Sarrantonio cut his teeth on short stories that progress quickly and this novel is no different. It is fast-moving and entertaining. The characters are well developed and the action bounces from place to place following a disgraced ex-cop tracking "Samhain", the death spirit of Halloween. I found the washed out cop a symathetic character. Oddly enough, I even began to empathize with Samhain by the end of the story. There is no gore or sex. The language is adult, but mild. I recommend this as a good book for teenage fans of horror, as well as adults looking for a good, scary Halloween story to put you in the holiday mood.

This third, and probably final, volume of Orangefield is a single story told in two different ways. The author had a concept for a contract. He realized he could do it as a long short story (included as "The Baby"). He could also change the ending and continue it into a novel. A woman is visited by her husband one night in bed. She falls asleep afterwards and is told he never cam home because he was killed slightly before she claimed to have seen him. Detective Grant gets involved and the weirdness is uncovered. Samhain is back and up to new tricks as Halloween approaches. Then it looks like the woman is pregnant. Now the weirdness really begins to grow. When the baby is born in the short story the story ends. In the opening novel the birth of the child leads to further weirdness for Detective Grant and Orangefield. I have to say that I liked both versions of the tale but it was a little strange to read. As I began the short story after reading the novel, I felt that I was just rereading the novel (it is only the last few pages that are different). I was almost tempted to put the book down but, upon finishing, was glad I didn't. For two eerie tales this volume fits the bill. Check it out.